Bitesize Orlando June 2025 – Issue 48

Welcome to the middle of the year and the official busy season in Orlando. I’ve got a lot to cover today, so without further ado, let’s crack on.

I have been busy this month laying the groundwork for a huge update to my planning section later this summer when I will introduce a new section surrounding disabilities and how the parks deal with accommodating all types of disabilities.

This month, I started and finished downloadable one page guides for each park in Disney and Universal, describing the alternative accommodations built into each attraction.

At the end of this month, I am heading back out to Orlando myself for a whistle-stop tour of Universal’s newest theme park, Epic Universe, and I’ll use the time on the flight to start laying out the new pages with the hope of making them live in the next few weeks. It’s a very emotive subject on both sides and I hope my new guide will dispel some myths and explain not only the “how” but the “why” of where we are at.

“Westward Ho! Crossing into New Frontiers at Magic Kingdom”

So says one of the headlines from a press release on the official Disney Parks blog announcing more details of how the fictional Piston Peak National Park will tie into its Frontierland setting in a few years.

Disney also shared the final day of operation for Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America, as construction is ready to ramp into high gear, and I’m afraid you don’t have long to visit the peaceful vestige of old Americana as the final day of operation will be in just 1 short week on July 6th!

Imagine an awe-inspiring wilderness filled with towering trees, snowcapped mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, roaring rivers and impressive geysers

Disney is already making inroads into embedding Piston Peak into Frontierland lore with the current refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which has been closed since January 6th and isn’t set to reopen until next Spring. New theming details and theatrical elements are being added to the area and ride path, indicating that Piston Peak has always been part of Frontierland.

Have a look at the brief Instagram story embedded below to see how the work on Big Thunder is progressing.

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When Big Thunder reopens, pathways will be extended around currently inaccessible areas of the attraction, incorporating a geyser field and rainbow pools, plus tell-tale tyre tracks from the newest inhabitants of Frontierland.

Big Thunder is inspired by Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, but Piston Peak will be inspired by the neighbouring state’s Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Trees will form a natural border between the off-road track and other areas of Frontierland. The water elements you see while riding Big Thunder Mountain will also extend in and around the new Cars attraction, further blurring the lines between both attractions.

One more unfortunate casualty of this multi-year construction project is the classic Disney World Railroad. Before you start panicking, permits confirm the tracks will be preserved, but the train will only be able to run in “shuttle mode” while work is ongoing to bring Piston Peak to life.

The Disney World Railroad traditionally makes a full circuit of the park, but Piston Peak will force the closure of the Frontierland section entirely. During construction (likely running for the next few years), the train will run between Main Street and Fantasyland stations only.

Tom Sawyer and the Rivers of America is not the only substantial closing in Magic Kingdom this year. Disney didn’t even make it out of the first week of the month before filing a notice of commencement permit for the upcoming Buzz Lightyear refurbishment.

The previously announced closure will allow Imagineers to make sweeping enhancements to the ride system and theming. When the ride returns from its multi-month closure, it will have new ride vehicles sporting new blasters designed for better movement around the show scenes. Targets throughout the attraction will also be replaced, and new targets will have animated effects when successfully shot.

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin will close from August 4th. The permits have a default 1-year timeframe, indicating that the refurbishment will be lengthy, possibly taking into next year. However, until Disney announces a closure date, we won’t know for sure. Until then, if you’re heading to Magic Kingdom from August onwards, expect Buzz Lightyear to be out of action for your trip.

Disney chose the last day of operation for MuppetVision 3D to share that Rock ‘N’ Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith will remain open for 2025, closing in 2026 for a Muppets themed makeover. The new attraction will also open in 2026.

Thankfully, the retheme of the popular Hollywood Studios roller coaster will be largely cosmetic as the attraction was closed last year for a multiple-month-long refurbishment to sort out the ride system. When it does close, most of the changes will be cosmetic, hopefully meaning a relatively quick turnaround time (for Disney).

Disney did release a short video starring Kermit, which I have embedded below.

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A quick heads up for anyone travelling late August that Spacechip Earth in EPCOT will be closing for a multi-month “routine” refurbishment starting August 25th. Disney hasn’t yet shared how long the refurbishment will take, but it is expected to reopen later this year, likely in time for peak Christmas crowds in December.

Disney has a ton of work to do in multiple parks, and another big project already underway, with site clearing already largely done, is the Tropical Americas reimagining of Dinoland U.S.A. Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama is already levelled, and we know DINOSAUR will remain open for 2025, closing in early 2026 for its Indiana Jones reimagining (so excited for this one). That leaves one stand-alone attraction left in Dinoland, The Boneyard!

Disney originally announced that The Boneyard would remain open “throughout” 2025 for young adventurers to explore, but the timeline appears to have moved, and The Boneyard will now be going extinct on September 2nd; its last day of operation will be September 1st. On the plus side, we now have confirmation that the new 11-acre Tropical Americas area will feature a kids’ play area.

In a month when almost every announcement from Disney meant the closure or limitation of another attraction, I have great news for EPCOT fans eagerly awaiting the reimagining of Test Track.

EPCOT’s popular thrill ride has been closed for a year for its third reimagining. Construction outside the building has been slowing, and Disney has been sharing some sneak peek videos on its social channels (check out one embedded below), usually a sign that reopening is imminent, and it is!

Test Track (V3.0) will open on July 22nd!

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If you can’t get enough of your Disney World fix, you may have looked into owning some property near the magic so you can visit more often. That was the original premise behind Disney Vacation Club, but people saw an opportunity to make some money by renting DVC points through a third party to take over a villa for a couple of weeks, which has become a business in itself, but Disney has other ideas!

A recent change to DVC membership T&C shows that Disney knows what’s been going on and is beginning to crack down on the (technically) illegal practice of commercial property rentals.

You agree that any reservations made under your membership are solely for personal use and not for commercial purposes, as required by governing documents for each DVC Resort, including but not limited to the Declaration of Condominium and Membership Agreement.

DVCM reserves the right to interpret personal use and determine if reservations are booked for personal or commercial purposes in its sole discretion. Personal use may include enjoying the benefits of a DVC Membership with family or allowing use of any reserved Vacation Home to friends and family on occasion. Additionally, personal use means that the member does not regularly or frequently rent/sell reservations booked using their membership.

Renting out points has always been part of the agreement, but recent years has seen a proliferation of commerical buyers interested in owning DVC purely as an investment, and they are very good a maximising their returns on investment, much to the chagrin of regular DVC members who have been noting the changes with increasing anger.

Disney’s latest T&C update, plus wording changes on the DVC website, have seen a sudden drop in availability as commercial renters rush to protect their assets while they figure out what their next step should be.

Without getting into too many specifics, as most of you here don’t own, or even know about DVC membership, if it was an avenue you were exploring for your next trip, you may find that availability is even harder to come by than usual, especially if you want to go at peak periods.

In a fun little aside as the month closed out, the interweb is abuzz with rumours of Disney World’s mythical 5th Gate. You may even have seen some clickworthy headlines. So what gives?

Disney’s 5th gate has been talked about since Animal Kingdom opened over 20 years ago, and exacerbated by Universal’s opening of Epic Universe last month. Could Disney World build a 5th gate? Absolutely, but it’s not going to be anytime soon! They have already said they are looking at maximising “opportunities” within existing infrastructure before even contemplating another theme park.

The headlines you’re now seeing are from the newly adopted Comprehensive Plan 2045 from the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), which looks ahead 20 years at what could be built.

They are by no means certain, nor are they probably even on the drawing board, yet! But by looking ahead, the district is preserving the zoning, land use classification, and infrastructure assumptions necessary for these future attractions to be developed. The plan allows for 1 new “major theme park” on a scale of what already exists, between 400 acres and 550 acres, plus the development of 2 smaller parks, roughly up to 147 acres in area, perhaps new water parks.

One of Universal Orlando’s most decisive roller coasters will be closing to make way for a new, as yet to be announced experience, and now we know when Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit will be closing.

The last day of operation for Orlando’s most uncomfortable roller coaster experience will be August 17th. Ground prep is underway in Citywalk for the unannounced new attraction.

Whatever Universal has planned for here, hopefully, they have learned lessons from this coaster. Given room to breathe, it could actually be a great experience, but as it is, you’re launched from one element to another in an endless assault on the senses and 90 seconds of pain for your body, thanks to the unbelievably rough ride and woeful car design.

If you’re one of the attraction’s few fans, you have a few weeks left; the rest of us can breathe a sigh of relief, quite literally, that this coaster will be no more come this summer.

If you’re getting nostalgic and can’t make one more visit, I’ve embedded a YouTube video from the Ride Guys, an official Universal Orlando channel.

So you can plan ahead or plan around these 2 popular attraction closures in Islands of Adventure, there are 2 multi-week-long week long closures upcoming this summer that you need to know about.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey will be closing for its annual refurbishment from November 3rd to November 16th. Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, meanwhile, will close for its annual refurb on July 6th and will remain closed for the rest of October, reopening on November 1st.

Yes, I know it’s a bit late this year, but Universal has been a bit busy, you know, opening a new $1B theme park and all, but Halloween Horror Nights 2025 dates and tickets are here, along with a few details bleeding out for good measure!

Halloween Horror Nights in 2025 will run select evenings between August 29th and November 2nd, namely the following evenings:

• Aug. 28 (Premium Scream Night; $375 per ticket!), 29, 30 & 31
• Sept. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28
• Oct. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30 & 31
• Nov. 1 & 2

Visitors to Universal Studios in September and October, please take note that you will only generally have 2 days per week when the park won’t shut early (at 5 pm) because of an event night, so please plan accordingly!

Prices start at $83 depending on the night. Express Pass ticket will add another $140+ and this year you can start your screams early at 3pm for a $55 supplement.

The overall theme this year is “The Conservatory”. Think gothic textures, stained glass and gargoyles, lots of gargoyles.

So far 4 of the eventual 10 houses have been announced.

Hatchet & Chains Demon Bounty Hunters is A follow-up from 2024’s “Slaughter Sinema 2” where this was featured as a fictional movie. In this Old West town, all hell is breaking loose. Red-hot lava demons are trying to possess everyone, melting everything in their path.

El Artista A Spanish Haunting is an original Universal Creative concept where a tortured 19th-century Spanish artist moves into an isolated country manor for inspiration, but the art comes alive and possesses him.

Jason Universe Halloween Horror Nights wouldn’t be the same without a Friday the 13th tie-in. This year, Jason Universe will take Halloween Horror Nights guests on a vengeance tour throughout the summer camp to see where it all began, from the creaking floorboards of Jason’s ramshackle cabin to the decaying main lodge and the eerie forest that offers no refuge for his victims.

In Fallout, a 2024 Amazon Prime movie based on a video game of the same name, guests travel through the hellish Wasteland. Travelling through iconic locations like the Super Duper Mart and encountering The Ghoul, an ageless bounty hunter who has endured radiation exposure for centuries.

Additionally, Five Nights at Freddy’s has been confirmed for this year’s event, but further details are yet to be announced.

Epic Universe has been open for 1 month already and it’s seen its fair share of teething problems, so let’s look at how Universal is addressing issues with its newest gate.

It’s fair to say that early entry has been a bit of a headache for the most part. Initially, Celestial Park and Super Nintendo World were confirmed to be open, with the 2 Super Nintendo attractions and Stardust Racers having to soak up all the early entry crowds. Universal has been playing around with early entry attractions due to continuing reliability issues, so expect a mix of the following to be open for early entry.

• Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
• Yoshi’s Adventure
• Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness
• Stardust Racers
• Constellation Carousel
• Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
• Curse of the Werewolf

An offshoot of the rides having reliability issues and Universal trying to balance complaints with its new park is that many attractions have been staying open later than the advertised closing time, sometimes up to an hour so, as the park empties out, start exploring and see if you get lucky as some attractions have been reported walk ons at the end of the day past closing hour.

You won’t find anything about this listed in the app; it’s very much unofficial, so it could end tomorrow, but it’s great to see that Universal is trying to placate visitors by spending a little on staffing and keeping attractions open later than advertised. It also won’t hurt their all-important guest metrics scores.

By the time you’re reading this, SeaWorld Orlando will have already debuted its expanded nighttime spectacular “Ignite”. Usually one of the largest fireworks shows outside of Disney World, Ignite this year will be extended and joined by hundreds of drones set against the pulsating anthem, “Feeling Electric”.

As the music pulses, the sky transforms into a vibrant glowing seascape filled with vibrant waves and glowing sea creatures before the drones transform into “fireflies”, seamlessly leading into the signature fireworks finale. Check out the new show in action below courtesy of the official SeaWorld Orlando Instagram account.

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Ignite is presented every year as part of SeaWorld Orlando’s Summer Spectacular season, which also includes a brand new show in the Nautilus Theatre, “Hydro Surge”. Little ones can celebrate with Baby Shark this summer to celebrate its 10th anniversary until September 2nd. Check out the schedule in the Seaport Theatre. Finally, for adults, the popular Bands, Brew & BBQ celebration runs until August 24th.

Here’s one from the left field, quite literally! The Orlando Dreamers are looking to bring Major League Baseball to Orlando in the future.

They already have financial backing and a set of plans for a brand-new stadium, which they want to build next to Aquatica near SeaWorld with an access point from International Drive on what is now county-owned land.

The only sticking point currently is Orange County, which hasn’t said anything about the project. MLB would only be played 81 days out of the year. During the off season and in between games, the 45,000-seat covered stadium can be leased out for festivals, concerts and other gatherings. The 6,700-space parking garage could become overflow parking for the Orange County Convention Center.

The Dreamers can’t just start a new baseball team; they have to buy one or be offered one (MLB is looking at 2 expansion teams), but with Florida already home to 2 baseball teams (in Tampa and Miami), will they look favourably at adding a third to the same state?

Between the county, the team and some rather irate locals, this is far from a done deal, but there are some very deep pockets funding the Dreamers, and this is Orlando, so who knows?

That’s it for another month. Thanks for reading. If you’re heading out to Orlando in July, maybe I’ll see you out there, as my next update will come directly from Epic Universe. I can’t wait!